Posted by Joshua on Thursday, March 8th, 2012

Syrian deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin announced his resignation from the Syrian government in a YouTube video, becoming the highest-ranking civilian official to join the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Hussameddin had worked for the Syrian government for 33 years, and had served as deputy oil minister since August 2009.

“I am joining the revolution of the people who reject injustice and the brutal campaign of the regime,” Hussameddin said in his filmed statement. “I tell the regime, which claims to own the country, you have nothing but the footprint of the tank driven by your barbarism to kill innocent people.”

I presume this is only the beginning of high level defections. So far upper-level Sunnis have stood by the regime, whether out of self interest, conviction, or fear. But that is not likely to remain the case for ever. The brutality of this war will drive them out of the regime as Syria’s sectarian divide widens. Syria’s sectarian communities have the habit of living together peacefully.

It will take time for Syrians to put hate in their hearts and become fully sectarian, as the Iraqis and Lebanese did. It took Iraq three years before the sectarian, civil-war began in earnest — that was in 2006 with the bombing of the al-Askari Mosque bombing in Samarra. The process of sectarian alienation is likely to happen more rapidly in Syria. High level defections will become more frequent as the regime weakens.

The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, has pushed back against fresh demands for US military involvement in Syria to end President Bashar al-Assad’s deadly crackdown on his people.

“What doesn’t make sense is to take unilateral action right now,” Panetta told the Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday about advising President Barack Obama to dispatch US forces. “I’ve got to make very sure we know what the mission is … achieving that mission at what price.”

The panel’s top Republican, Senator John McCain, said the estimated 7,500 dead and the bloodshed calls for US leadership that a Democratic president, Bill Clinton, displayed during the Bosnian war in the 1990s and that Obama eventually showed on Libya last year.

Obama has resisted calls to step into the turmoil in Syria to stop Assad’s crackdown on protesters. He told a news conference Tuesday that the international community has not been able to muster a campaign against Syria like the one in Libya that ousted Muammar Gaddafi last year.

“For us to take military action unilaterally, as some have suggested, or to think that somehow there is some simple solution, I think is a mistake,” Obama said. “What happened in Libya was we mobilised the international community, had a UN Security Council mandate, had the full cooperation of the region, Arab states, and we knew that we could execute very effectively in a relatively short period of time. This is a much more complicated situation.”

Obama’s strategy has been to use sanctions and international diplomatic isolation to pressure Assad into handing over power.

The Pentagon chief said the United States is currently focused on isolating the Assad regime diplomatically and politically, arguing that it has lost all legitimacy for killing its own people. He left open the possibility of military action, saying the Obama administration continues to assess the situation and would adjust its strategy as necessary.

Dempsey said among the military options are enforcement of a no-fly zone and humanitarian relief. He said a long-term, sustained air campaign would pose a challenge because Syria’s air defences are five times more sophisticated than Libya’s. He said Syria’s chemical and biological weapons stockpile is 100 times larger than Libya’s.

He said suppressing the Syrian air defences would take an extended period of time and a significant number of aircrafts, an effort that would have to be led by the United States. One complication, Panetta and Dempsey pointed out, is the location of the sophisticated air defences: populous neighborhoods. If the US unleashed its military power, that could mean scores of unintended deaths.

“We also need to be alert to extremists, who may return to well-trod ratlines running through Damascus, and other hostile actors, including Iran, which has been exploiting the situation and expanding its support to the regime,” Dempsey said. “And we need to be especially alert to the fate of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons. They need to stay exactly where they are.”

A document released by the WikiLeaks website has revealed that undercover US-led NATO forces are operating inside Syria against the Syrian government. According to Press TV, WikiLeaks released a confidential email from an analyst working for the US …

What does the source think about the possibility of a palace coup that isn’t accepted by the SNC, FSA, people in the street or some combination thereof? Also does source know what the Iranians think about such ascenario (assuming they have considered it)

Reva’s note – this is extremely interesting, especially the bolded part below. DOes Iran really think it can convince the US to collaborate with them on regime change in SYria in such a way that will end up in Iran’s favor? the whole point of the US focusing in on Syria is to contain Iran in the first place. This sounds like the Iranians are getting to be in

an increasingly desperate position. Always be wary of source bias, but why would a HZ source want to spread info on the weakness of the Syrian regime and the lack of options for Iran? I do believe the part about Iran preferring a palace coup over the Turkish strategy of building up an opposition via FSA.

I strongly believe that Asad’s regime will fall in 2012. The conventional wisdom that Asad will survive, because both Iran and Israel view him with favor, is a thing of the past. The situation in Syria has reached the point of no return. It is true than nine months of demonstrations have not brought down the regime but, by the same token, regime brutality and heavy handedness have not quelled the uprising. If anything, the level of hostilities and army defections is on the rise.

The breaking point will come when the military establishment realizes that Asad must go. There are signs that the military establishment is beginning to disintegrate. I talked to [ME1386] and he told me that Alawite officers and enlisted men are beginning to join the ranks of the FSA. This represents a major development. Alawite officers are divided since many of them are unhappy about the use of excessive force against Sunni protesters. Alawite officers are aware that Asad is trying to find an asylum for himself and his family should his regime become unslavageable. This is upsetting many Alawites who are coming to realize that Asad will abandon them. If so, they reason that it would be suicidal to continue to win the wrath of the Sunnis. Walid al-Muallim offered to resign but Asad turned down his request. This is a clear indicator that many of Asad’s men are realizing that they are putting a vain fight against the burgeoning uprising.

The Iranians are weighing in the situation in Syria very carefully. One must read beyond the public statements of the Iranians, especially ayatollah Khamenei. Both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have concluded that Asad’s regime cannot be rescued. It is perfectly understood that the regime in Damascus will fall along lines similar to the Libyan model.

There will have to be a coup in Damascus, be it a military or political one.

One must not dismiss the pragmatism of Khamenei. Iran appears to be willing to use its influence in Syria to stage a coup, provided that it is able to ensure that the new leadership will continue to pursue excellent relations with Tehran. The Iranians have approached the Americans on this. In the past, Iran collaborated with the U.S. on the ouster of Saddam Hussein and Iran won big in Iraq. The Iranians would not mind working again on ousting Asad if they can secure good results in Syria. Syria’s contiguity to Iraq allows Iran to play a direct role in the affairs of Damascus.

The Iranians feel they need to act on Syria soon because the Turks have their own plans for Syria and are not coordinating with the Iranians. He says the Turks are moving slowly but systematically. Iran does not want to allow Turkey to take over Syria. Whereas the Turks are coordinating with the Brotherhood and the FSA, the Iranians prefer a palace coup in damascus in order to maintain their ties with Asad’s successors. What is delaying action in Syria is the fact that the U.S. has not yet decided on the shape of the post-Asad political system. Nevertheless, he insists that Asad’s regime will fall, although the future of Syria after the regime change remains nebulous.

On Syria – the conversation centered on how far Turkey is actually going to go. TR325 explained that the Turkish plan is centered on civil war in Syria. Officially, it’s Turkey providing the main training,a rms and support to FSA. Unofficially, US and TUrkey are doing this together in deploying SOF for this mission. Notice all the talk in the press now about civil war breaking out in Syria. This is the narrative Turkey and US want to build. I pointed out that creating the conditions for civil war – actual neighborhood to neighborhood fighting – is still pretty difficult considering that the Alawite forces are still holding together, but he seemed to think that this can escalate within 2 months time. He also said without saying that they’re working on making that happen. He acknowledges it’ll be messy and it will take a lot of blood and time for a Sunni power to emerge in syria, but that this is the Turkish obligation.

The Turkish plan to preempt the instability that would result from civil war conditions is to implement the buffer zone 5-40km into Syrian territory and set up refugee camps. I asked what levers Iran and Syria have to get Turkey to back off in relation to PKK. He said (half-jokingly) that Karilan is Turkey’s man (ie. turkey can actually negotiate with him.) But he said PKK third-in-command (still need to get this guy’s name) answers to Syria and Iran. Turkey knows this very well and he says Syria and Iran are already making moves to threaten attacks via this faction.

I’m left with a lot of questions —

Given the instability that is likely to result within AKP over Erdogan’s health, would Turkey really be making bold foreign policy moves, such as helping to create a civil war in Syria? Turkey appears very confident that Syria/Iran have the means to play the PKK card. Why risk that?

He says he just got back from an official meeting in Ankara. He didn’t hear of such a deployment. He says Turkey has no plan to intervene in Syria in a specific time-frame or before a deadline. But Turkey has a very-well developed contingency plan that may be implemented should the need arise according to the events that take place in Syria. The plan was elaborated back in March 2011, and revised in June 2011. Turkey’s allies, including the US, are aware of this plan. The plan includes creating a buffer-zone in northern Syria (I sent specifics of this plan in another insight before – pasted below) only if the unrest or civil war in Syria 1) Creates a massive refugee crisis 2) Threatens the border security 3) Provides PKK with an opportunity to attack on Turkey more easily. But Turkey does not have any intention to take an action on Syria unless these conditions occur. Turkey will not act without US/NATO involvement anyway….http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/204627_re-insight-military-intervention-in-syria-post-withdrawal.html

Syria’s armed opposition is an irritation rather than a threat to the survival of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, according to the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

The lightly armed rebels of the Free Syrian Army cannot control the country’s largest centers of population, and assisting them from abroad would be very difficult, according to the 54 year-old London-based research institute.

The rebels are “no direct threat to the regime,” Toby Dodge, IISS senior fellow for the Middle East, said at a press conference in London today. Meanwhile “there clearly is not the momentum needed” to break the deadlock over international action at the United Nations Security Council, he said. Fighting inside the country continues as a form of “bloody attrition.” ….

There is an assumption that Bashar al-Assad’s military solution to the current crisis in Syria is hopeless – that no matter how many centres of resistance like Baba Amr he brutally crushes, the opposition won’t be quelled and the fall of his …

….He tells me that he first smuggled guns into Syria in April last year. Then there were only 20 guns. But since then things have changed. “Since then,” Hamid says, “a huge amount of weapons has gone across the border. That first time we smuggled the guns and we didn’t tell anyone what we were doing. But when the revolution got bigger and changed [it has become more violent], almost everyone in our village – and the villages nearby – have become involved.”

I ask Hamid if I can accompany him on a smuggling trip and he agrees, as long as I don’t tell anybody who I am. Two days later, at sun rise, we begin our journey. We drive a dusty Toyota pickup through arid agricultural land for ten minutes until we sight a blue saloon car. The driver of this car motions to us, to park beside him. Some tools are taken out of the vehicle and the two men begin to act as if they are fixing the blue car, stretching out on the ground and fiddling with various pieces of equipment.

While they are doing this they ask me, to my chagrin, to keep watch. This was hardly dangerous; it was easy to do as all the land around us was completely flat. However I definitely felt conflicted, as all of a sudden, I had become complicit in the weapons smuggling business.

By now, the men are removing weapons, wrapped in plastic, from the blue vehicle. By the time they are done, Hamid had hidden 40 Kalashnikovs and 50 containers of ammunition in his own vehicle. He asks me to help cover the guns with a tarpaulin and together we fasten ropes around them.

We then began to drive back to the village. “So where do all these guns come from?,” I ask Hamid. “And how do they get them through all those military checkpoints?” Because often, security personnel at the checkpoints will not just check IDs, they’ll also search the vehicles.

“They come from Baghdad and from Erbil,” Hamid replied. But he said he didn’t really know much more than that. The driver of the other car was Kurdish – when I tried to ask him the same question, he didn’t answer. Back in the village the rest of the day was relatively peaceful. However at sunset, things started getting busy again, as the smugglers headed toward the border crossing points by the dirt barrier and barbed wire. Mobile phones are used to fix times for crossing the barrier and Hamid and I, along with six other men carrying burlap bags filled with guns and ammunition, head for the same area.

When we can’t drive any further, we park next to the border zone. It’s a chaotic scene as large groups of people, carrying cartons of cigarettes and bigger bags, rush around. There are also gunmen who fire their weapons into the air. “That’s to warn the border guards not to interfere,” another smuggler told me.

After less than half an hour, we see the first of the smugglers returning from the border. He is herding cattle! As he came closer, Hamid was exuberant: “Tonight we’re winning,” he exclaims.

Then together with the group of young men, we run across the dirt barrier in the dark. The bags are handed over to Syrians on the other side and they leave as quickly as we came. Not far from us, another delivery is being made. I believe there were many others but because it was so dark, I couldn’t really see what was going on.

Later, I asked Hamid what he had meant when he had spoken about “winning”. “Tonight we felt really safe,” he said. “Because there were so many of us, and because people were firing warning shots, the border guards didn’t dare interfere. A few days ago the soldiers tried to stop us and one of them was shot and injured. After that, they’ve been avoiding us.”

Interestingly, like many weapons dealers around the world, Hamid and his fellow smugglers were not particularly well informed about what was going on in Syria. While discussing this with them, it was hard to tell where their sympathies lay – or if they even had any sympathies for either the Syrian revolutionaries or the current Syrian regime.

However when it came to weapons and money, they could tell me anything I wanted to know. “When the conflict in Syria changed, the prices increased,” one of the other smugglers, Saeed, told me. “A year ago we were selling a machine gun for US$450. Today they pay us US$800. We also smuggle medium sized weapons from here. The price of an RPG-7 [rocket propelled grenade launcher] is US$1,100. We also sell hand grenades, sniper guns, silencers and ammunition and prices vary.”

Saeed estimates that during the past year, his group of smugglers has traded around 1,500 Kalashnikovs, 1,000 boxes of ammunition and hundreds of other weapons.

But the media cacophony on Syria has just become too shrill – reporters, too reluctant to raise obvious questions – to just sit back and let this one slide.

Especially when it is taking place under my nose at the place I have blogged for two and a half years. There’s no other way to look at this: by refusing to publish all but one of my seven Syria articles, AOL-Huffington Post is censoring a viewpoint that challenges the dominant narratives on Syria in the mainstream media.

Obama has his own Domino Doctrine for the Muslim world. As a consequence of this doctrine, Obama’s Iranian Nuclear policy can be summed up as “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” and Saudi Arabia is in even more danger than Israel.

…Rather than leading from behind and delegating the task of equipping of the FSA to less-discriminating states, like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Obama administration should take a lead role in supplying the FSA and mitigate potential leakage of weapons to nihilistic Islamists. At the same time, by providing materiel to these forces in a systematic manner, Washington can help transform these disparate franchise opposition units into a more disciplined and united force tied to a centralized command. Moreover, working closely with the FSA now will establish relationships that can help avoid a Libya scenario — where independent militias continue to run amok — and potentially enable Washington to better shape the post-Assad environment….

This is not going to be a quick fix, but the longer the status quo persists, the higher the risk that Syria will degenerate to a failed state ripe for al Qaeda inroads and sectarian conflict….

Comments (209)

ANKARA, March 8 (Xinhua) — Syrian administration has given positive signals that they could allow the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to send a delegation to the conflict-hit country for humanitarian relief, Turkish media reported on Thursday.

The delegation, if allowed, would work to see the needs of the Syrian people, an OIC official in the Turkish capital of Ankara was quoted as saying anonymously.

OIC was waiting for a response from the Syrian government, which is expected to come in a few days, the official said, adding that they have received positive signals from Syria over the matter.

The delegation would be headed by the deputy chief for humanitarian affairs of the OIC, according to the official.

“The situation in the country, as you all know, is extremely serious for the Syrian people and the region. I think we should not forget the possible impact of Syria on the region if there is any miscalculation,” said Annan.

The former UN chief said “no one is thinking very seriously of using force in the situation”, noting that any further militarization will make the situation worse.

“No one wants a repetition of the Libyan scenario. We only want to find a solution with the opposition and the government,” he added.

The bus was targeted with two RPG rockets near the Shizar town in Hama’s countryside, said SANA, adding that six passengers were killed instantly, while six others injured and were transported to nearby hospitals.

The UN and the Arab League special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan addressed the Syrian opposition on Thursday from Cairo, urging them to co-operate with the Syrian authorities to resolve the year-old conflict that has already left thousands Syrians dead.

U.S. envoy Maura Connelly visited Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Tuesday and, while noting Lebanon’s right and responsibility to secure its borders, urged the authorities to protect “all disarmed Syrians, including members of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army”, according to the embassy’s website.

She also “reaffirmed the United States’ concern for the disappearance and kidnappings of Syrian nationals in Lebanon”.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who is close to the pro-Syrian Amal faction, responded sharply. “Lebanon cannot heed such a request … Lebanon does not act upon a request, but out of self-interest for the country’s security,” he said.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati reinforced that rebuke, saying on his website on Wednesday that the cabinet reminds “diplomatic bodies working in Lebanon of the paramount importance of respecting the Vienna Agreement, Lebanese state institutions and laws”.

Dozens of people have been killed in a suburb of Syria’s battle-scarred city of Homs, reports say, in what activists are describing as a “new massacre”.

Forty-four of those killed came from just a handful of families, the Local Co-Ordination Committees (LCC) said.

The reported killings come a day after the UN’s humanitarian chief visited Homs, saying parts had been devastated.

Meanwhile a Syrian deputy oil minister posted a message on YouTube saying he had defected to the rebels.

Abdo Hussameddin is the highest level political figure to abandon the government of President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising erupted a year ago.

‘Reprisal killings’

According to the LCC, the latest concentration of killings by security forces happened in the Jobar district of Homs. The group said 20 of the dead belonged to a single family, and 16 to another.

It said the deaths were reprisal killings, coming days after security forces retook Homs from rebels, having pounded the city for weeks.

The claims cannot be verified as international media inside Syria are heavily restricted.

After visiting Homs, one of the first cities to join the uprising last March, the UN humanitarian chief Baroness Valerie Amos said the bombed-out Baba Amr district felt like it had been closed down.

“The devastation there is significant, that part of Homs is completely destroyed and I am concerned to know what has happened to the people who live in that part of the city,” Baroness Amos told Reuters news agency.

Activists said troops committed massacres after they went in to the district, but Damascus blamed the rebels for many deaths.
[…]

Abdo Hussameldin, a deputy in Syria’s oil ministry, has announced his defection in a video posted by activists on YouTube.

If confirmed, Hussameldin would be the highest-ranking civilian official to abandon President Bashar al-Assad’s government since the uprising against his rule erupted a year ago.

“I, Abdo Hussameldin, deputy oil and mineral wealth minister in Syria, announce my defection from the regime, resignation from my position and withdrawal from the Baath Party. I join the revolution of this dignified people,” Hussameldin said in the video.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed by Al Jazeera.

Rami, the activist who shot the video and posted it on YouTube on Thursday, told the AFP news agency in Beirut that the opposition helped arrange Hussameldin’s resignation. He said the video had been shot on Wednesday and that Hussameldin has now gone into hiding, adding that the location of the filming would not be revealed.

Hussameldin denounced Russia and China for backing the regime, saying they were not “friends of the Syrian people, but partners in the killing of the Syrian people”.

He said he had served in the Syrian government for 33 years and did not wish to end his life “serving a criminal regime”.

“That is why I have joined the right path, knowing that this regime will burn down my house, hunt down my family and fabricate lies,” he said.
Hussameldin makes his resignation statement

“More needs to be done,” John Ging of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told a one-day Syria Humanitarian Forum on Thursday. “There is a huge amount of concern.

“The U.N. side of the humanitarian community is looking at the process of additional food stocks pre-positioned to target 1.5 million people,” said Ging, director of OCHA’s coordination and response division who chaired the meeting.

Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, also said Thursday that he would urge Assad and his foes to stop fighting and seek a political solution.

“The killing has to stop and we need to find a way of putting in the appropriate reforms and moving forward,” said Annan, who is due in Damascus on Saturday.

His remarks drew sharp rebuke from dissidents, who refuse to enter into a dialogue “while tanks shell our town, snipers shoot our women and children and many areas are cut off from the world by the regime without electricity, communications or water,” in the words of one activist in Homs.

When some officials in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were reported to be of a mind to supply weapons to the Syrian rebels, Russia issued the following legalistic statement in response: “The Russian party intends to apply to the counter-terrorist organization of the UN with the demand to clarify the intentions of the officials who stand for arms supplies to the armed groups of the Syrian opposition, and legally estimate their intentions….. Russia shall follow the Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism approved by the UN General Assembly on the 9th of December 1994: “States, guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and other relevant rules of international law, must refrain from organizing, instigating, assisting or participating in terrorist acts in territories of other States, or from acquiescing in or encouraging activities within their territories directed towards the commission of such acts”. These obligations are especially essential when some TV channels, particularly Al Jazeera, give airtime to extremists that openly call for physical violence against those who don’t share their approaches to the Syrian crisis.” http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/2845551E4550924E442579BA004082F0 .

Meanwhile the Western countries are on record stating they have no intention to arm the Syrian rebels. The UK foreign ministry made a statement in that regard on Wednesday. France did so last week.

On the one hand, the Syrian opposition has no way to bring down the government by force of arms. On the other hand, the Syrian opposition has no way to win in the upcoming parliamentary elections (they aren’t even going to try to compete in the elections). So Syria is going to be fine.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is battling al Qaeda-backed “terrorists” including at least 15,000 foreign fighters who will seize towns across Syria if government troops withdraw, a Russian diplomat said on Thursday.

The Syrian army resumed Tuesday its attack on the rebel city of Homs. “The bombing of Homs which began at dawn is the most violent in the past five days. On average, two rockets fall every minute,” stated Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.

According to the organization, new clashes between the forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad and the rebels killed 29 people Monday, including 18 civilians.

Ignoring the calls for calm, the Syrian regime has continued the shelling of Homs, now suffering a humanitarian crisis. The Red Crescent complained about a shortage of bread in the “capital of revolution.”

Since Feb. 4, at least 300 people were killed, according to a UN count.

Elsewhere, Al Jazeera TV reported the Syrian regime’s forces resumed on Tuesday the offensive against the city of Boukamal, near the border with Iraq, as well as towns inn the southern province of Deraa. Columns of tanks and armored vehicles raided the towns and made several arrests.
[…]

Russia has found in Libya of camp of preparation of the Syrian insurgentshttp://lenta.ru/news/2012/03/08/libya/
The constant representative of Russia at the United Nations Vitaly Tchurkin has convicted the Libyan government of preparation of the Syrian insurgents. On it informs Agence France Presse.
According to Tchurkin, Russia has received the information that in territory of Libya with support of the authorities function training camp in which there have training preparation the Syrian insurgents further going home for conducting of armed struggle against the lawful government of Syria. Tchurkin named such practice “absolutely unacceptable” and has underlined that it undermines stability in all Near East.

Tchurkin also has noticed that has the data on growing activity of “al Kaide” in Syria. “In this situation there is a question – whether export of revolution to terrorism export turns?”, – the Russian diplomat has told.

The government of Libya which has come to power in result of revolution and overthrow of a mode Muammara Gaddafi, in October, 2011 has refused legitimacy of Basharu Asadu and recognized oppositional Syrian national board as unique legitimate authority in Syria. Until now any other government of the world hasn’t undertaken similar actions.

Opposition between Basharom Asadom and its opponents proceeds in Syria within a year. Victims of collisions in this time steels from five (a government estimation) to nine (the data of oppositionists) thousand persons

GVF — The Syrian regime is nearing its demise and Iran needs to look for new alternatives to the Assad regime as its partner, says a former high-ranking commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps.

In a piece that appeared on Iranian Diplomacy, a website run by former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations and France Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Kharazi, former IRGC Navy chief Hossein Alaei said the current trend in Syria would eventually lead to the Assad regime’s downfall.

According the United Nations, since the outbreak of anti-government demonstrations in March, the Syrian regime’s heavy-handed crackdown on protesters has claimed at least 5,000 lives while thousands more are said to have been wounded or imprisoned.

“The structure of the Syrian state has two problems. One is that they are very old and worn out. In the current system, even regime officials, with the exception of Bashar Assad, are fed up. Many of these people do not have the required enthusiasm for the regime to continue,” Alaei argued. “Syria’s form of government is from the time of the Cold War. They belong to a world when the two superpowers, the former Soviet Union and the [United States of] America, ran the world. At that time, many countries of the Eastern Bloc were under single party rule reliant on the security and military apparatus. The age of such structures has come to an end and, in fact, the time of dictatorships in the Middle East in general has come to an end too.”

During Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq in the eighties, Brigadier General Hossein Alaei, the first commander of the IRGC navy at the time of its formation in 1985, turned into an important figure among Guard commanders.

“In Syria, the population does not want the current establishment. Even the minorities are putting up with the situation only because they’re anxious about the future. Not even they can accept the situation,” he added. “The majority of Syrians want the system to change.”

“Even individuals within the [Syrian] regime prefer a democratic system over a dictatorial one. So even if you ask people living under dictatorial regimes about the topic, you will see that they prefer a democracy too … Usually, people who live under dictatorships compare their conditions with people who live under more democratic systems and always prefer the [more democratic] systems. In those systems, people have more freedom; there are more opportunities for economic activity; people have access to more comfort, etc. … Dictatorial regimes not only deprive people of liberty, but also have no regard for the people’s well-being.”

Alaei argued that the Syrian regime had become increasingly isolated as a result of its brutal crackdown on dissenters, adding that the decision by Russia and China to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution against Syria was temporary. “Their objection to regime change in Syria is not based on principle … They’re after settling scores with the US and have no interest in keeping Bashar Assad [in power]. For Russia and China, the important issue is the scores they wish to settle with the US and the West.”

The retired IRGC commander projected that Russia would eventually abandon its support for the Syrian regime on the international stage, just as it voted in favour of UN resolutions against Iran over of its nuclear programme.

Alaei predicted that the international sanctions on Syria would put a stranglehold on the country’s economy, making it even more difficult for the government to pay the salaries of its employees.

He also questioned the importance of Syria in the struggle against Israeli aggression in the region. “Does Syria really play an important role in the issue of resistance?” he asked. “Or does the Syrian government use the issue of resistance as a raison d’être? … Another question is whether our national interest is [best] served by supporting governments like Syria? Are there other ways for developing and strengthening the country’s national security?”

He dismissed the notion that Assad’s downfall would weaken the front against Israel. “If elections are held in Syria, the majority will rise to power. Will this majority accommodate to Israel? This is not possible. If the majority rises [to power], the Golan [Hheights] will be liberated from Israeli occupation sooner than if Bashar Assad’s regime stays.”

“In my opinion, the probability of Bashar Assad remaining [in power] is decreasing,” Alaei maintained. “I believe that we’ve got to assume that this dictatorship is nearing its end. Therefore Iran must not place its eggs in Bashar Assad’s basket. Iran must help democratisation in the Islamic World. Islam is against dictatorship and injustice. Islam does not accept dictatorship and oppression anywhere. Islam is against the murder of innocent people. Just as we are against the killing of Shiites at the hand of Sunnis and communalists in Homs, Aleppo and Iraq, we’re also against the killing of Sunnis at the hands of dictators. We are on the side of the oppressed and oppose oppression.”

“I recommend that Iran rethink its policy of supporting dictatorships no matter where, including Bashar Assad … Iran must actively plan to replace the depleted dictatorship in Syria with an Islamic and democratic system.”

The brigadier general also slammed the Arab League’s double standards in dealing with pro-democracy movements in the Middle East, describing its actions as “dangerous.” “Why shouldn’t there [also] be democracy in Saudi Arabia and Qatar?”

In another article published by the conservative Ettelaat newspaper on Monday, the Iran-Iraq war veteran compared Iran’s Supreme Leader with the late Shah who was ousted from power following the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
[…]

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29639
Fall of Syrian Government, Prelude to an Attack on Iran.
British and Qatari troops preparing military incursion through Turkey
According to Aviation Week, Syria’s “newly improved, long-range surveillance and intelligence-gathering facilities” represent an obstacle to an Israeli attack on Iran.

Focussing on the cooperation between Syria and Iran, the article states:

A collapse of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could provide enough chaos to shield a U.S. or Israeli attack on Iran. Otherwise, Syria would provide early warning. (David Fulghum, Syria Key To Iranian Defenses Against West, March 6, 2012)

This supports the argument made by several independent news outlets that “the road to Tehran goes through Damascus.” According to numerous reports, the foreign-backed armed insurrection in Syria is a covert operation to topple the Syrian government, the only Iranian ally in the region. The insurrection is still upheld by the Western media as a peaceful protest movement, even though U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has admitted that Al Qaeda has integrated the ranks of the opposition.

The Aviation Week article states that the fall of Bashar al-Assad would weaken Iran and facilitate an attack from the U.S. and Israel.

The report further states that an Israeli attack on Iran would be conducted “through Syrian, Turkish, Jordanian or Saudi airspace.”

However, Syria’s upgraded systems include electronic surveillance now covering “Israel, Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia”, as well as a radar site on Lebanon’s Mount Sannine, which “overlooks the Hezbollah- and Syrian-dominated Bekaa Valley and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.”

The upgrades, provided by Russia, will also “enable tracking of U.S. and Israeli naval and aerial movements in the eastern Mediterranean to include Cyprus (where the U.S. has its own intelligence-gathering facilities) and Greece.”

Other reports claim that British and Qatari troops established in Homs are “paving the way for an undercover Turkish military incursion” into the country. (British and Qatari troops already waging secret war in Syria?- 13 undercover French army officers seized in Syria, Lanka Newspapers, March 6, 2012.)

This is hilarious.. a real mockery. Ann wrote an informative comment yet she failed and got a thumb down. I understand if you don’t agree with her opinion but she didn’t express any. If the opposition on this blog is a sample of what on the ground…then no need for Assad to attempt any change or improvement, might as well burn it all. I’m starting to feel sorry for the guy. That one was too much.
I actually printed to show it to my friends after work, how constructive is the opposition in Syria. LOL
——————–
225. ann said:

First, let us be clear: the Syrian people have every right to protest, peacefully and violently, against the brutal regime. And let us be clear: the Syrian regime has no right to stay in power, and this was true even before it began using violence to quell the uprising. And let us be clear: the Syrian regime is incapable of reforming itself.

It is rather foolish to wait for a group to ascend to power before criticizing it. There was no mystery as to the intentions and agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood or the Salafis, or even the Khomeini movement, before their taking the reigns of power. Similarly, the adversaries of the Ba‘th Party began opposing it long before the former began conspiring to seize power by force. Today, it is imperative that an opposition to the Syrian National Council begins (and to the power behind it and underneath it) before they get a chance to rule Syria. This NATO supported movement does not really differ from the NATO-supported movement that served as a tool of NATO in Libya. The writing was on the wall before the Qadhdhafi regime fell, and those who supported the NATO intervention in Libya are now trying—á la Thomas Friedman after he supported the Iraq war in 2003—to re-write their own political history and to deny that they really had supported the NATO military intervention.

My observation: Being against the Syrian revolution because of the SNC, is like not supporting the Palestinians rights because the Palestinian Authority is corrupt. (this sentence was on twitter a few days ago, don’t recall from whom wrote it, could be BSyria)

In the meantime Bab Amr fell, Edlib soon, the opposition is divided and the Western countries continue to dance to the only tune they agree on, the economical sanctions that are surprisingly affecting civilians and will not topple the regime.
Like when Adnan Bakkour resigned, the resignation of a deputy to the ministry of oil is bringing hopes up that it will snowball. Where is Bakkour now?
Qatar and KSA are planning millions dollars to create refugees while the EU and UN planning millions of dollars to feed the same refuges.
All this because of one man. He is certainly the most important man in the world these days.

the chickenhawk weekly standard (zionist?) , a war mongering rag during the Bush years is as bad in the Obomber years…calling for war and not being criticised for its belicosity.
Isnt calling for the arming of terrorists like the (not so)Free Syrian Army a crime? and isnt it odd for a jewish paper to so readily back islamic terrorists?

‘First, let us be clear: the Syrian people have every right to protest, peacefully and violently, against the brutal regime. And let us be clear: the Syrian regime has no right to stay in power,’
===================================

protest violently??? then the syrian govt has the right to crack down on the ‘protestors’…Angry Arab may like to take his own advice and protest violently in the US aganist that brutal regime, …and see how long he stays out of jail.

inded launcha colour revolution in the US …get the US regime to crush dissent and then use that to call for the armed overthrow of the state…thats how this thing works!

how ironic for socialist Angry to actually call ofr the violent overthow of a secular govt!

Asharq Al-Awsat talks to The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson
08/03/2012
By Mohammed Al Shafeyhttp://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=5&id=28773
The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson posing next to a bullet-ridden wall in Syria.
London, Asharq Al-Awsat – Jon Lee Anderson is an author, investigative reporter and staff writer for The New Yorker. He has reported from warzones across the world including Afghanistan, Iraq, Uganda, El Salvador, and most recently Syria.
….
Asharq Al-Awsat] Did you find it difficult to report about the situation from Syria surrounded by government minders? Did they allow you free access to the people?

[Anderson] Curiously, perhaps because of the moment in which I went to Syria – at the end of the Arab League mission in late January – I was not, as I expected to be, constantly surrounded by minders. I was free to go, more or less wherever I wanted, for much of the time. There were some dangers in doing this, which I have detailed in my recent article “The Implosion” [published by the New Yorker, 27 February, 2012] but I was fortunate that nothing bad happened to me or the people I was with in the end. I should say that it was not easy to speak to people in Syria that felt free to give their opinion, but they did exist, and did so, despite the risks to themselves, to a degree that surprised me. The Syrians generally impressed me as remarkably brave people.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Do you think that the Arab Spring still represents a positive step forward for the region or is the situation in the Middle East getting out of hand?

[Anderson] It depends on where you look. Tunisia, arguably, is on a seemingly better path today than it was before, under Ben Ali. Time will tell if the moderation and will to peace in that country remains, or if this is a chimera, but it seems there is a good chance that it will emerge as a model for change. Libya, next door, is a mess, and likely to get worse. In the absence of Gaddafi, we see militias and a weak, almost non-existent central government. Libya’s main problem may well be the lack of a true state as we know it; this is something that can be built, but it will take a lot of applied work by a great many people. The Libyans, as well as friends of Libya around the world, must ensure that the militias don’t take over, or plunge the country into a civil war. Egypt and Yemen seem to have embarked on cynically pragmatic, if messy, middle roads in which elements of the former disgraced/fallen regimes have retained some means of control. It seems likely that this path will bring about somewhat changed societies, perhaps less corrupt and with new players at the helm — but not necessarily happy societies. As for Syria, this is a catastrophe unfolding before our eyes, with an unforeseen ending to the story.

In conclusion to your question: The Arab Spring is both things right now, both a positive step forward and also the Middle East getting out of hand. We need more time to know which way the pendulum will swing the hardest.

Shameful misinformation on the headline of the New York Times
Mr Hussamedine has been promoted to MINISTER by the NYT

Syrian Minister Appears to Defect and Join Opposition
By RICK GLADSTONE and J. DAVID GOODMAN
Published: March 8, 2012
….
A senior Syrian official appeared to switch to the insurgent side on Thursday, compounding the plight of the embattled government, which has seen the country’s currency plunge to levels of roughly half the value of a year ago when the uprising began.
…
In Washington, Victoria Nuland, the State Department spokeswoman, told reporters she could not yet confirm that the defection of Mr. Hussameldin was genuinehttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/world/middleeast/syrian-minister-appears-to-defect-and-join-opposition.html?_r=1&ref=global-home

‘Sunni clerical voices are touting the Arab “awakening” as the “Sunni revolution” in riposte to the Shi’ite revolution of Iran. In March, al-Jazeera broadcast a sermon by Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, which raised the banner of the restoration of Sunni ascendency in Syria. Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, was joined by Saudi cleric Saleh Al-Luhaidan who urged, “Kill a third of Syrians so the other two-thirds may live.” ‘http://atimes.com/atimes/middle_east/mg15ak02.html

isnt this a call for geocide? and by a sunni sheik! its clear who is to be genocided

‘The US has a record of attempting to intervene in Syria that even predates the US Central Intelligence Agency’s and British intelligence’s 1953 coup in Iran against prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh.

Between 1947 and 1949, American government officials intervened in Syria. Their aim was to liberate the Syrian people from a corrupt autocratic elite. What resulted was a disaster and led ultimately to the rise to power of the Assad family. Western powers may no longer remember this history, but as one BBC commentator recently noted, the Syrians surely do. ‘http://atimes.com/atimes/middle_east/mg15ak02.html

Russia considers nuclear missiles for Syria, Baltichttp://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/9691338.asp?scr=1
….
The Iskander’s cruise attributes make its launch and trajectory extremely hard to detect and intercept. If this missile reaches Syria, Israel will have to revamp its anti-missile defense array and Air Force assault plans for the third time in two years, as it constitutes a threat which transcends all its defensive red lines.

Moscow’s military planners know this and are therefore considering new sea and air bases in Syria as sites for the Iskander missiles, DEBKAfile reported. Russia would thus keep the missiles under its hand and make sure they were not transferred to Iran, it added.

Ok, I am inclined to believe that you are NOT one person, but rather two. A male, Mr. Brian, and a female, Ms. Ann. You only have one thing in common: you are both CONSPIRACY THEORISTS. My friend, who is writing a book on conspiracy theories would be very thrilled that he is now following the comments of not jut one, but two conspiracy theorists on this board. 🙂 🙂

P.S., NO, I am Syrian (not a brainwashed idealist) and I don’t want Syria occupied. I wanted freed from both internal tyranny AND foreign occupation. Besides, Syria is a majority Sunni Muslim and an Arab country. If an Arab liberation force is formed to help us liberate our country from the Iranian agent Bashar, I am all for it. I am against any foreign invasion of Syria. An Arab invasion is not foreign. It’s ARAB.

I am puzzled as more and more people are saying that we do not support a military intervention in Syria and yet we have others say all is on the table and arming the rebels is the most excellent of ideas.

My reading of this is as follows
1. There is a consensus that the regime as it stands must go

2. There is debate about whether the structure of the regime should stay somewhat in place to avoid a collapse while letting go of the top leadership. It seems where the top needs to chopped off is the crux of the debate. This is because the security house of cards is so tight that removing one piece leads to dissolution and collapse.

3. Arming the rebels may be what people are doing while saying we do not want outside interference as a way of strengthening the resistance to the point where the regime has got to talk real change. I doubt it will work for Fredo’s brother is a loose cannon and cannot be controlled.

4. It is possible that the regional players fear a collapse of the country into a real Somalia and a civil war that spills over. This may be the reason for a talk of an arab peace keeping force and maybe the reason why forces from 17 arab countries will have training execise in Jordan in April or May.

5. The message of the defector is more important than the person and as usual he will be tarnished after the defection by pro regime propagandists. The issue is that he said that the regime has taken the country and the people and the civil servants hostage

6. It is the economy stupid there are clear signs of imminent collapse of the currency and famine and looting and kidnapping and what have you perpetrated by the regime thugs and others in equal measure to try to make ends meet or to take advantage of the chaos and therefore the narrative of the regime tha it is the guarantor of stability is gone.

7. Kofi pronoucements are a way to get to talk to the regime. On a talk show I heard a pro regime supporter propose the idea that the regime is willing and eager to enter into a dialogue.

Again dialogue a la Shamir Begin Netanyahou is a non starter.

My questions

What would happen to the regime if Bashar and his entire extended family are gone? Are there enough cool heads to save the rest of the regime from the wrath of the people or is it too late especially after the continued massacres?

Would a departure of the top preserve the interests of Russia and Iran or are all bets off?

Would the relationship with HA be preserved or not?

The three questions pertain to the debate that is ongoing with the supporters of the regime as they negotiate their interests with the other side including the opposition.

It is clear that Fredo cannot promise Russia and China and Iran enough stability if he were to stay to preserve their interests, knowing that they would like to secure them with the unknown opposition I understand the Chinse shuttling and the Russians talking to the GCC.

Any one wants to air some real thought? Pass some judgement? Float some ideas? Create some speculation bubbles? Release a balloon?

what do the syrian people think of their army? we are told by the western regimes and their medias its been brutalising syrians…

‘Initially, army esteem was affected by the criticism. Though the stories of army mass desertion are disinformation, there was some erosion of military self-confidence at lower levels of command. And public confidence in the military wobbled, too, as casualties mounted. But it was a “wobble” that ended with the dramatic conflict around Jisr al-Shagour in mid-June, near the Turkish border.

Just as the Lebanese nation rallied behind its army in the conflict of Naher al-Bared, so too the Syrians rallied behind their army in the face of the Salafist attack firstly on the police, and subsequently on the army and on state institutions in Jisr. And, as the details of the Jisr al-Shagour conflict unrolled before the public, sentiment turned bitter towards the insurrectionists, possibly decisively.

The images from Jisr, as well as other videos circulating of lynchings and attacks on the security forces will have shocked many Syrians, who will have perceived in them the same cruel “blood lust” that accompanied the images of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s hanging in 2006.

The Jisr events may prove to have been a pivotal moment. Army self-confidence and honor is on the rise, and the public majority now see in a way that was less evident earlier that Syria faces a serious threat unrelated to any reform agenda. Sentiment has tipped away from thinking in terms of immediate reform.

Public opinion is polarized and embittered towards the Salafists and their allies. Leftist, secular opposition circles are distancing themselves from the Salafist violence – the inherent contradiction of the divergent aspirations of the “exiles” and the Salafists, from the Syrian majority consensus, is now starkly manifest. This, essentially, is the last side to the paradoxical Syrian “box”. ‘http://atimes.com/atimes/middle_east/mg15ak02.html

P.S., (regarding my last comment)I am Syrian and I speak Arabic. It’s funny and preposterous that those who are not Syrian or they don’t know Arabic think that they can lecture me on Syrian politics. But, they are the same conspiracy theorists who propagate that the courageous teenager Hamza al-Khateeb (who was tortured/killed by Bashar’s murderous security in Der’a) was killed by Saudi terrorists!!!!!!!!! I don’t think that I can reason and rationalize with conspiracy theorists who are empty of any sense of reason and reality. Facts don’t mean anything to them. How else would they be claiming that Bashar M.D. (Murderous Dictator) isn’t a dictator, or that he isn’t killing Syrians?!

Commentary: Syria’s uprising and the world
The international community must put pressure on Syria to join the Arab Spring, writes Hisham Ahmed

As many people may already know, the English meaning of the Arabic word Al-Assad is Lion. In the jungle, the lion is viewed as the king, as he is expected to be a more brutal monster.

Indeed, of all the Arab regimes that have been toppled since the start of the Arab Spring last year, Syria’s Al-Assad regime is the most dangerous. While it is impossible to quantify oppression and repression, the Al-Assad regime has certainly surpassed its Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan and Yemeni counterparts in its assault on the rights of its people and other Arabs over the years.

Although the other deposed Arab heads of state were ruthless and tyrannical beyond imagination, Al-Assad’s dictatorship is, in fact, of a distinct nature. In their failing efforts to delegitimise the revolutions in their countries, Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh, all respectively tried to invoke their military and/or historic roles in nation-building of their countries, as a source of legitimacy.

For his part, Bashar Al-Assad can claim neither military heroism nor historic preeminence, for he enjoys neither. He has inherited his tight grab on power from his late father, Hafez Al-Assad who had instituted blatant deceitful ideology, tribal and partisan manipulation and brute force, as means for his rule. Bashar was detached from politics. He was not to become President of Syria were it not for the intervention of some fateful circumstance: the elder son in the family, Bassel, who was being groomed by his father to inherit the reign of power, got killed in a car accident in 1994. As Al-Assad the father was dying in 2000, he instructed that the age requirement for presidency in the country’s constitution be amended immediately from 40 to Bashar’s age, 35 years. In so doing, President Al-Assad had punctuated a new concept in Arab politics, monarchical-republicanism. His move became an envy for some Arab “presidents” to emulate. Thus was the goal of Mubarak of Egypt, Gaddafi of Libya and Saleh of Yemen before they met their respective destinies.

Since its rise to power in 1970, the Assad regime has been the most hypocritical and schizophrenic in the Arab region. While it has espoused Baathist socialism, it systematically secured the resources of the country only in the hands of a small group of self-serving individuals in government.

While it has advocated Arab unity, it proved to be the most divisive. Its role in Lebanon after the start of the devastating 1975 civil war is graphically telling: Al-Assad, the father was masterfully opportunistic in supporting and arming different conflicting groups against each other. Al-Assad’s instrumental role in creating splits and divisions among Palestinians is quite well-known in the Arab World, as he backed insurgents against the PLO in 1982 and as he, until recently, supported Hamas against the Palestinian Authority.

While it has claimed that it is the most progressive, it turned out to be the most backward regime, as it is grounded in tribalism and sectarianism. The Alawite sect to which the Al-Assad regime belongs makes only 10 per cent of Syria’s population. Of course, it goes without saying that not all Alawites are supporters of Assad and that not all non-Alawites are opponents of his regime.
[…]

This is the last time I reply to you because you seem to be so isolated from reality. However, PLEASE KEEP WRITING COMMENTS HERE BECAUSE MY FRIEND, WHO IS WRITING A BOOK ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES, HAS BEE FOLLOWING YOUR COMMENTS AND ANN’S SINCE LAST NIGHT!

P.S., I used to work for UNRWA and I dealt with Middle Eastern officials, many of whom were as outrageous and conspiratorial as you are. So, I am used to interactions with delusional people.

This is the last time I reply to you because you seem to be so isolated from reality. However, PLEASE KEEP WRITING COMMENTS HERE BECAUSE MY FRIEND, WHO IS WRITING A BOOK ON CONSPIRACY THEORIES, HAS BEEN FOLLOWING YOUR COMMENTS AND ANN’S SINCE LAST NIGHT!

P.S., I used to work for UNRWA and I dealt with Middle Eastern officials, many of whom were as outrageous and conspiratorial as you are. So, I am used to interactions with delusional people.

Reporting from Jerusalem — As popular unrest threatens to topple another Arab neighbor, Israel finds itself again quietly rooting for the survival of an autocratic yet predictable regime, rather than face an untested new government in its place.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s race to tamp down public unrest is stirring anxiety in Israel that is even higher than its hand-wringing over Egypt’s recent regime change. Unlike Israel and Egypt, Israel and Syria have no peace agreement, and Syria, with a large arsenal of sophisticated weapons, is one of Israel’s strongest enemies.
Though Israel has frequently criticized Assad for cozying up to Iran, arming Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and sheltering leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, many in Israel think their country might be better off if Assad keeps the reins of power.

“You want to work with the devil you know,” said Moshe Maoz, a former government advisor and Syria expert at Hebrew University’s Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace.

Several Israeli government and military officials declined to speak in depth about Assad, fearing any comments could backfire given the strong anti-Israel sentiments in the Arab world. That’s what happened when some Israeli officials attempted to bolster Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before he resigned Feb. 11.

“Officially it’s better to avoid any reaction and watch the situation,” said Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, the Defense Ministry’s policy director. He predicted Assad’s regime would survive the unrest.

Privately, Israeli officials confirmed that although Assad is no friend, he’s probably better than the immediate alternatives, which could include civil war, an Iraq-style insurgency or an Islamist takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Israel is worried about what might happen to Syria’s arsenal, including Scud missiles, thousands of rockets capable of reaching all of Israel, chemical warheads, advanced surface-to-air systems and an aging air force.

After spending billions of dollars in recent years to bolster its army in a bid to catch up to Israel’s military capability, Syria was reportedly pursuing a nuclear program until Israel bombed its suspected reactor facility in 2007.

Despite Syria’s ambitions, Assad has been a predictable foe and something of a paper tiger, analysts say. He did not retaliate for the 2007 airstrike and, like his predecessor and father, Hafez Assad, has been careful to avoid direct confrontation with Israel, preferring instead to arm anti-Israel militias such as Hezbollah and Hamas.

Assad has even flirted with peace talks with Israel, though he insists that Israel return the Golan Heights, which Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East War.

“Despite problematic aspects, Bashar maintains a stability,” said Eyal Zisser, head of Mideast studies at Tel Aviv University. “The border is quiet. You know where you stand with him. On the other hand, when you go toward the unknown, it is really unknown.”
[…]

You can be a great source of database for your writer friend. Israel is not “ROOTING FOR BASHAR”. Israel and Israeli officials have a full right to be concerned about what is going on on our northern border, and the outcome of all of this. From concern to (the conspiratorial) “secretly ROOTING”, it’s a long way.
.

I commend you for not supporting Mubarak’s dictatorship. Please keep in mind that from now on, your foreign minister or PM will NOT be able to declare war on Gaza and the Palestinians from Cairo. DIDN’T Zipi Livni do that with Mubarak?

One of the most striking things that I took away from my time in Egypt last winter was the extent to which the U.S.-backed Mubarak dictatorship goes to squash public dissent on their government’s Gaza policy. Swarms of riot police encircled countless peaceful protests calling on the Egyptian government to let activists part of the Gaza Freedom March into Gaza, and Egyptian police beat and injured activists part of the march. During the marchers’ standoff with the Mubarak regime, the Egyptian government was exposed as being collaborators in the Israeli blockade of Gaza, something that deeply upsets ordinary Egyptians and led to Mubarak getting hammered in the Arab press.

Egypt is being exposed once again as complicit in Israeli crimes, thanks to the over 250,000 documents the whistle blowing website WikiLeaks released yesterday. This revelation–that Israel consulted with Egypt and Fatah in the run up to the brutal Israeli assault on Gaza in 2008-09–is decidedly more explosive than the very public complicity of the Egyptian government in the siege of Gaza.
[…]

Aren’t we obsessed with conspiracies like most Arabs? UNRWA didn’t make you immune, I guess.”

Dear Mr. Amir:

Working for UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East http://www.unrwa.org/) WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER DONE! I didn’t do it for money because I bypassed jobs paying 10 more in order to work for it. Why? Because Palestinian refugees are the bravest people on the face of earth. Their story is passed from one generation to another, and they will NOT rest until they return to their STOLEN homeland:

Our friend Turkey planning for civil war in Syria, how surprised should I be that there are Syrians helping them toward that goal?\
I think special care should be taken to protect religious sites and symbols to prevent attacks like the one happened in Iraq, security should be tripled around mosques and churches and religious figures to prevent another mosque bombing or church massacre, I am very worried about sheikh Bouti
God help us all

I would like to think that Ms. Narwani has an ulterior motive in her views on Syria. I would have to believe that she has a good reason to defend a brutal dictator killing his own people in droves and bombing his own cities with impunity, otherwise, her writing can be called nothing but mediocre whether in intellectual analysis or basic common sense. I am referring here to her article titled: Questioning the Syrian “casualty list”. In it she is refuting the methods and authenticity of collecting the data on the number of casualties in the Syrian uprising.

The main premise of her article is suspect. What is the value of questioning the number of killed? Wouldn’t any decent human being take one person killed as too many? Is there a magical number that we are trying to seek to give credence to the brutality of the Syrian regime? Does the fact that some of the counted are from the Syrian army change the fact that members of the Syrian army are also Syrians killed because the regime is unleashing them to kill their own brethren? And finally, whose fault is it that we can not count our dead properly? Had she bothered to look, she would have found out that the only reason is that the Syrian regime will not let any independent journalist into the country unless they are “accompanied” by Mukhabarat.

Sorry to break it to you Ms. Narwani, The only reason why your articles are not published is their lack of intellectual depth and moral integrity that comes hand in hand with your desperate attempts to defend the indefensible.

Brian
Syria is Syrian Arabic Republic, Arabism is part of Syria,Syria is part of the Arabic world, All Arabic States are brothers,as one family, brothers help brothers,and it is not invasion if they interfere with their brothers,
I am proud that I am Arabic,and I hope that you are too.

The same countries that imposed brutal sanctions on Syria and helped increase violence are now pledging to provide food assistance to 1.5 million Syrians . I definitely welcome any effort to feed the hungry and help the needy but what did those sanctioning countries have in mind when they imposed punitive measures that mostly hurt poor Syrians?
Look at who is getting rich in Syria today and you will find the answer.
The defection of hussameldin is symbolic and is not received with neither celebration nor grief,he and many others are discovering that they have little to lose by defecting and more to gain monetarily and politically,I suspect that mr hussameldin’s family is already outside Syria,and those who were unlucky enough to be left behind will come out denouncing his defection,welcome to Syria’s hodgepodge.

I am surprised that Josh didn’t report the frenchies who were captured in BA and Zabedani, in addition to all other mercenaries from foreign countries.
It is already being reported in France the capture of these frenchies and hopefully this is the reason why Charcoalizy shut up his mouth recently.
I am not hearing him recently.

as well the Turkish have shut up after the secret deals to return their officers, we should be able to capture Saudis, Libyan and others and hold them responsible for all the killing in syria as well the french.

Hillary need to see their faces and be warned if this doesn’t stop then more will be hanged for attacking Syrians and for being illegally on the Syrian soul.
I think the regime media has been pathetic given the poor campaign they are running.

btw the head of the journalists conference in Syria is well known to be very pathetic person to begin with therefore I am not surprised for the failed regime media.

The KSA and the GCC are financing the terrorists, the Presumed FSA is an army where the fact it is thugs ran militia, sponsored by killers.

Brian
Syria is Syrian Arabic Republic, Arabism is part of Syria,Syria is part of the Arabic world, All Arabic States are brothers,as one family, brothers help brothers,and it is not invasion if they interfere with their brothers,
I am proud that I am Arabic,and I hope that you are too.

=============================

so its ok if Syria decides to invade..say lebanon or iraq or palestine and install a govt that suits syrias interests , since syrians are arabs and syrias interest become arab interests….

its this sort of dodgy thinking that makes the zionist position on arabs tenable.
Notice how arabs also went to work in Libya committing genocide of black africans…

‘it is not invasion if they interfere with their brothers,’
and its not murder or rape if an invading lebanese muslim arab decides to kill a syrian christian arab and rape and murder his wife…right

I am noticing that the chatter of the radicals on SC has increased recently, is that an indication of an Alqaida operation in the near future or it is an indication of the desperation of this radicals where nothing has worked for them after one year of killing innocent Syrians.
I think the more this civil war continues the more Syria and Russia are winning given both USA and France are getting busier with days with their internal election which both have issues to fear for.
I understand that Putin is again the new czar of Russia therefore it is a time for him to see the terrorists wrestling with the angry animals and die one after another on the rink.
It is sad that the USA is pissed at Assad because of Iran issue, not because USA ever cares about the Syria people, but we have some retards who don’t want to admit this concept.
Although many of the USA politicians clearly stated that.

how is the regime going to cede to diplomatic pressure when the administration keeps undermining negotiation efforts by taking the stick (in the carrot/stick approach) off the table? you don’t show up to a potential fight by unilaterally declaring you’re disarming. that places one in such a weakened position. this makes me wonder if president obama is being sincere. this stance makes it appear he really doesn’t want assad to step down. i don’t expect obama to recklessly jump into another conflict, but declarations that take the potential threat of military intervention off the table – doesn’t make sense to me.

Tara
As you said, now they will blame Hussam eldin ,since he defected, now they say he stole money ,or he defected for money, and some call him he is sunni, that means he is terrorist, what kind of logic is this? don’t they have a shame to say that?

Air France:
For security reasons, we have suspended our flights to/from Damascus until 24 March 2012.
If you hold a ticket to travel to/from Damascus issued before 06 March 2012, we offer you the following commercial options:
– you may postpone your departure date until March 31 2012 and travel via Cairo on Egyptair between Cairo and Damascus. or via Amman on Royal Jordanian between Amman and Damascus.

Brian said
“so its ok if Syria decides to invade..say lebanon or iraq or palestine and install a govt that suits syrias interests , since syrians are arabs and syrias interest become arab interests”….

Brian ;Do i need to remind you that Syria invaded Lebanon, during the lebanese Civil war?Do I need to remind you that Syria paricipate in invading Iraq, along with US troops, Or did you forget all that?

Brian said
” Notice how arabs also went to work in Libya committing genocide of black africans…”

Brian
Are you calling Libyans Black african? the majority are more white like you, and whether they are black or white they are Arab and they call for freedom, why to deny them freedom.
Brian said
‘”it is not invasion if they interfere with their brothers,’
and its not murder or rape if an invading lebanese muslim arab decides to kill a syrian christian arab and rape and murder his wife…right”
No one said that , please do not accuse me of things I never said.show that I said that, or you must appologize to me.

so why are sunnis attacking syria? be they muslim brotherhood salafists or saudi funders.

‘That event was the culmination of a pattern of movements from Afghanistan and across the region into, and from, Iraq. Most of these radicalized Sunnis coming to fight the United States occupation had gravitated towards groups loosely associated with Zarqawi. Zarqawi’s al-Qaeda affiliation is not of particular significance to Syria today, but the Zarqawi “Syria” doctrine that evolved in Iraq, is crucial.

Zarqawi, like other Salafists, rejected the artificial frontiers and national divisions inherited from colonialism. Instead, he insisted on calling the aggregate of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan, and parts of Turkey and Iraq by its old name: “Bilad a-Sham”. Zarqawi and his followers were virulently anti-Shi’ite – much more so than early al-Qaeda – and asserted that a-Sham was a core Sunni patrimony that had been overtaken by the Shi’ites. ‘http://atimes.com/atimes/middle_east/mg15ak02.html

NOTE this sort of fanaticism allows the US to use those the regime fought in Iraq to serve as their unpaid shock troops in Syria

Far better [for israel] to deal with leaders relatively immune from popular pressures, with whom cynical deals could be cut, rather than with genuine politicians who are constrained to be responsive to their constituencies.

It is clear like the sky or the sun shine in July.
It is clear that the support of the regime on the ground is way more than anyone of the western media reporting.
it is clear that air raids by the Americans will do only one thing which is uniting the people with the regime.
if you don’t believe this you can call people and ask them inside Syria.
It is clear as well that Iraq is willing to support Syria more than what the US Administration admits to or would like to.
The economy is the problem in Syria but given there are many of the Syrians who live outside and they will continue to send money to their families and other this will continue to help people to live.
the Syrian reserve is there and i am sure if it is not wasted it will keep the regime on his feet for a while

Lithium is a good medication for manic attacks. It is a mood stabilizer. Ask your doctor about Lithium. There is no other explanation for this kind of behavior. Incessant successive over the top posting is a sign of manic attack. Interested people should totally ignore responding and not feeding into the frenzy. It is a matter of time and mania becomes severe perhaps psychotic depression.

This is the last time I reply to you because you seem to be so isolated from reality. However, Please keep writing comments here because my friend, who is writing a book on conspiracy theories, has bee following your comments and ann’s since last night!

P.S., I used to work for UNRWA and I dealt with Middle Eastern officials, many of whom were as outrageous and conspiratorial as you are. So, I am used to interactions with delusional people.

Good night Mr. Brian!

FREE SYRIA, FREE PALESTINE!
==================================

how ironic:as israel is also seeking to ‘free’ Syria…but Dave seems oblivious to ME politics

as a former UNRWA you must be looking for work! hence the destruction of Syria will suit your objective.

Conspiracies happen..to deny them is the task of any conspirator.

and sure enough Unholy dave admits he and a friend are plotting in secret: monitoring this thread …to take action against us?

‘‘Sunni clerical voices are touting the Arab “awakening” as the “Sunni revolution” in riposte to the Shi’ite revolution of Iran. In March, al-Jazeera broadcast a sermon by Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, which raised the banner of the restoration of Sunni ascendency in Syria. Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, was joined by Saudi cleric Saleh Al-Luhaidan who urged, “Kill a third of Syrians so the other two-thirds may live.” ‘

[Edited] ‘The same countries that imposed brutal sanctions on Syria and helped increase violence are now pledging to provide food assistance to 1.5 million Syrians ‘

right…the real thugs of the 1st world are saying : trust us!
they use their offices provided by a dodgy electoral politics to make pledges they have no intention of keeping….think post invasion Iraq…
the regimes of US(under anybody) France(under sarcozy) canada UK australia and the whole corrupt edifice of modern democatic politics make promises they have no intention of keeping.

If this is true then we should thanks the thugs of the regime because the saved the money till needed and now sending it back to support Syria.
obviously i am being sarcastic but what is important is that if this is true then millions of dollars are being transferred back to syria.
the drop of the Syrian Pound could be more of psychpath moves.
Time will tell, maybe Ehsani or others have better ideas where this money is coming from unless Rami returning all his hidden treasures.

‘Brian ;Do i need to remind you that Syria invaded Lebanon, during the lebanese Civil war?Do I need to remind you that Syria paricipate in invading Iraq, along with US troops, Or did you forget all that?’

syrias occupation of lebanon was all that kept Israel from reinvading Lebanon…which they did after Syrias army left…you left that bit out…

but your biggest blunder is the following:

‘Are you calling Libyans Black african? the majority are more white like you, and whether they are black or white they are Arab and they call for freedom, why to deny them freedom’

signs of arab racismhttp://mikeybowers.blogspot.com.au/2011/03/cartooning-in-benghazi.htmlyouve got your nerve talking about ‘freedom’..when that ‘freedom’ is the freedom to commit genocide…’Freedom’ has become a scoundrel word used by the american regime to jusify aggressive invasion and mass murder in the middle east…now i see its being used by arabs with the same intent [mass murder]

[Edited] Ghufran writes: ‘Yes,this uprising inflamed sectarian feelings,but most Syrians understand that the sacrifices given by Syrians from both sides must lead to a better
government,more freedom and less corruption’

Hm..youve put the cart before the horse..sunni hatred and regional ambitions precede the uprising,…and caused it.

most syrians DONT see that the war on them by salafists will make for a better state! Why make a riduclous statement like that?!
as for ‘more freedom’ ./..what does that mean? how free will women be if the sunni salafists win? what becomes of non-sunni muslims? more free?

as for corruption..!LOL the lies used to justify this war on Syria will intensify corruption as will the thugs wielding power behind the scenes..is see much more not less corruption

[Edited]
another familiar meme we saw in Libya, is that israel supports Assad(as we are told they did Gadaffi)..and vice versa…the effect is to arouse the hate of arabs a few bulbs short of a chandelier.

Now, That was a big lie..and this new one is an attempt to turn deluded and bored arabs to invading Syria and killing syrians and turning syria into another sharia wielding thug state.

Israel does NOT support Assad or syria ..it sees syria as a threat to its hegemony of the region(syria is an ally of Iran..iran is sh’ia..so its no surprise sunni(not arabs) want to end the Assad government,..and put in place something like the hello hole of the saudis
..SO its ironic that sunnis are actually aiding Israels rise to regional power… but then jews are clever

Please stops your hate mongering, if you have a problem with my religion keep it to yourself. The last thing Syrians need is another arrogant leftist moron that could not point where Syria is on a map, let alone to tell us what to do.

You obviously know jack shit other than the crap you and your occupy comrades keep regurgitating to anyone that would care to listen.

If you just came back from occupying some back alley, please leave your hate filled propaganda there.

If you read on article about Syria, that does not equate you to be an expert on Syria.

Second:

I choose not to partake in conversations with bigots and racists, so in short
================
on racism…see my post above…
You claim if i read an article that does not support your sunni views on syria that does not make me an expert on syria..it does make me bette informed than you like…

to quote a former cia chief: Far better to deal with leaders [dictators] relatively immune from popular pressures, with whom cynical deals could be cut, rather than with genuine politicians who are constrained to be responsive to their constituencies.

“and some call him he is sunni, that means he is terrorist, what kind of logic is this? ”
its like being Sunni is all of a sudden a crime against humanity. And the bigot that made the statement is not an Arab, nor does he know what being Arab is all about.

The reason why alawis in Syrian are not joining the anti regime movement is the lack of a trusted roadmap that takes Syria from a bad system to a better one. Removing the lords of violence and corruption from power is an absolute necessity but it is not enough especially if done in the context of a violent armed rebellion and foreign intervention.
The attacks on Sunnis is not just wrong,it is a form of political idiocy and moral bankruptcy,Syria will not be Syria if any of its components,ethnic/religious,is sidelined or deprived of basic political and cultural rights.
When the Sunnis in Syria are attacked,all Syrians will be Sunnis,it is either one country or a collection of failed emirates.

Li is good for bipolar more than just hypermania or hypomania attacks there is others medications better for this two conditions..
I am not a Psychiatrist but I assure you that many of the SNC need the Li than people in Syira.
Li is good for bipolar which is alternating depression and mania at times, which is the exact condition of the SNC at the current time. I am not sure where is your doctor is friend who is counselling the SNC but probably he needs to have Li or ECT ( Jad I know you will laugh at this one).
you can read my previous Assafir link about the current condition of the opposition and their foul mouths language in their meeting which doesn’t indicate that they are any different than the regime thugs.
Opposition will never rule Syria because they foreigners not legit and not accepted by the syrian peoeple. hola for now

The rift between KSA and Egypt when it comes to Syria has moved to the public arena after Egypt’s FM stated his country’s opposition to arming Syrian rebels. It looks like Saud Alfaisal pinky promise to give Egypt $ 3.75 billion was not enough to change Egypt’s position since the money never left KSA.

Obama administration has absolutely no interest in seeking congressional approval for ANY of their planned military adventures no matter what the constitution says. It’s the military’s authority to “defend the nation”.
Bosnia was also not a threat to our nation. Neither was Libya for that matter. None of them are even connected to the global war on terror except for the fact that Hillary Clinton recently acknowledged that al Qaeda is actually helping our forces destabilize Syria and we put them in charge of the military brigades around Tripol

Western Media backed of Putin’s hair after Clinton Admitted Putin Won the Russian Presidential Election Fair and Square. (but of course kept on lecturing him). It’s her maternal instinct she can’t help it .

Despite a growing chorus of demands in the media for greater Western involvement in the ongoing civil war in Syria, the official U.S. response has been appropriately slow and cautious.

…
Even if the uprising against Assad were somehow to succeed, Americans should be under no illusions that the emergence of majoritarian Syrian democracy would be a victory for pluralism or liberal values. Each time popular, elected governments have replaced authoritarian regimes in the region in the last decade, the new government has tended to be more sectarian, less secular, and generally worse for religious minorities than the one that preceded it. A more genuinely representative Syrian government may end up being anti-Iranian, but it isn’t going to be any less antagonistic to the U.S.

‘Please stops your hate mongering, if you have a problem with my religion keep it to yourself. The last thing Syrians need is another arrogant leftist moron that could not point where Syria is on a map, let alone to tell us what to do’

i know where syria is on the map: right next to Turkey, which is using its border and subservience to NATO to aid tne overthrow of a sovereign state…by …the very people the US fought in Iraq backed by the US israe and France etc.

Hate mongering is when people attack Assad calling him a dictator and supporting armed jihadis in their efforts to overthrow the govt of Syria.

So how many here support the overthrow of the syrian govt ? a sow of thumbs please!

Don’t ask mainstream media: they rely on advertisment which is now thoroughly in the hands of weapon dealers and contractors (for France: all the president’s best friends: Lagardere, Dassault, Bouygues etc), which in turn rely on Gulf contracts for the next wars of the next 1000 years.

“No one wants a repetition of the Libyan scenario. We only want to find a solution with the opposition and the government,” he added.

“We are hoping that when he goes to Syria on Saturday, it will really be ground-breaking and that he will be able to get the breakthrough that we all hope,” Arabi told reporters.
…
Egypt has rejected the arming of the opposition groups of Syria, in contrast to the stance of some Gulf nations. Differences within the pan-Arab body on the solution to the Syria crisis arise.

“We will do whatever we can to urge and press for the cessation of hostilities and then the killing and violence,” Annan told reporters after meeting with Amr.

“But of course, ultimately the solution lies in a political settlement,” said Annan. The envoy added he would urge the government and the Syrian opposition to “come together to work with us to find a solution that will respect the aspirations of Syrian people”.

‘Even if the uprising against Assad were somehow to succeed, Americans should be under no illusions that the emergence of majoritarian Syrian democracy would be a victory for pluralism or liberal values’

there is no uprising against ASSAD..what we have a terrorist jihadis many from outsie syria seeking to create chaos to cause the govt to collapse.

but at least the word ‘uprising’ implies moer than peaceful protestor…but it doesnt allow us t understand event.

The idea that US is a democracy is also a furfy…it isnt..The people have no say in government…

Anan is not coming to negotiate with the regime,he is equipped with an American and Israeli desire to focus on Iran which is far more important than Syria to the big players.
Will the regime capture this moment to win certain concessions?
The flattening of the aggressive language by the US may be a sign of things to come,if this analysis is accurate,this will not be good news for the SNC and the hawks in the opposition especially if the regime receives a mere verbal punishment for its impending military campaign in Idleb and reef Halab.
Hafez Alassad died but his students are still alive and well,and they will do anything to survive even if that means giving concessions about Iran. Lebanon as usual will be a testing field for this new order,watch Junblat and other “flexible” politicians to forecast the political weather in the region.
The US is losing interest in Syria,for now,and is more interested in securing Chinese and Russian support about Iran after two scientists from the IAE pushed the red button yesterday suggesting that Iran is closer than previously thought to weaponizing enriched uranium.
Syria may now be taking a back seat,the hot air coming from McCain and Liberman is more of a laughing gas than true wind,that is what Anan meant when he ” hoped” that the tough talk about a military intervention will not be taken seriously.

Turkey Takes Syria’s Refugees But Will It Take the Fight To Assad?
By PIOTR ZALEWSKI / ANTAKYA | Time.com – 1 hr 41 mins agohttp://news.yahoo.com/turkey-takes-syrias-refugees-fight-assad-031000099.html
…
The tents are the headquarters of colonel Riad al-Asaad and other leaders of up to 40,000 anti-regime rebels known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Turkey keeps a tight lid over Asaad, limiting his communication with media, and restricting access to his camp. Perhaps with good reason. On March 1st, a Turkish newspaper reported that the country’s intelligence service had foiled an attempt by Syrian agents to kidnap the colonel.

For months, speculation has been rife that aside from sheltering the FSA leadership Turkey may be arming and training the rebels. Ayham al-Kurdi could only wish that the rumors were true. “All the help we received to date was to be allowed to be based in Turkey, nothing more,” says al-Kurdi, 30, a rebel commander, over tea and cigarettes at an office on the outskirts of Antakya. “The Turkish government is undecided as to what to do,” he complains. “Our wish is that they come to a decision.”

Maher Nouaimi, an FSA spokesperson, is just as exasperated. “We have had no support from the Turkish government,” he yells into his cellphone. “We have seen Russia giving cash and weapons to the Syrian regime, but we’ve received nothing.”

Whatever the extent of its links with the FSA, Ankara’s backing for Syria’s political opposition has been explicit. Having initially kept it at arm’s length, Turkey has taken a much closer interest in the opposition since the birth of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the leading alliance of anti-regime activists, last October. Based in Istanbul, the SNC has enjoyed regular contacts with Davutoglu and other foreign ministry officials. According to Khaled Khoja, an SNC member, the group has largely Ankara to thank for its recognition by the Arab League as “a legitimate representative of the Syrian people.” The SNC will lobby to be designated the Syrian people’s “sole” representative during an upcoming “Friends of Syria” conference in Istanbul.
(..)

There are several christians who support the revolution, but many christian support the regime now, what is there position would be in the future ?, the reason I am questioning their support for Assad is Lebanon, the majority of christians in Lebanon are against the syrian regime, and these days they align with Hariri people,They suffer a lot from the brutality of Assad,they are very bitter, and some Druze who follow Jumblat support the revolution ,they are on one side while HA is on the other side, it will be difficult to see the christians in Lebanon against Assad while the christian in Syria are for the Assad, especially if the fight erupts in Lebanon, and this is very likely

If you compare what CNN makes of the “Syrian TV propaganda” about Fake Dany
with the original video,
you notice two missing elements, mainly: the time he waits for the phonecall, with no sound of shooting while he mentions right when interviewed “we had 200 dead in the last 30 mn” (or do we have to take this as “what the journalist tells him from other sources of information” as he tells Anderson Cooper in the CNN interview?
and the other video, taken from the same location, which has the famous Khaled Abu Saleh, a friend of Bouvier’s doctor. A much more embarassing topic.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-XlkUoa7tIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFrOCzPdaw8

Thank you for the PBS update.
This guy is a no-brainer propaganda machine and he’s been used to the max by whoever pay him, just yesterday he said that his uncle is paying his parents money to live, how come he has all the money to travel and give interview allover the world? His uncle paid that too?
Did you watch his speech to the EU council about Syria? It was pretty bad, he told them bunch of stories as if the Europeans are stu-pid and naive to believe those hallucinations he mentioned.
So his latest story of ‘please Israel help us’ is that of the Syrians now ‘don’t want ‘humanitarian help’ they want ‘bombs’ to fell over their heads instead, maybe they should start bombing over his own first…Pathetic!

zoo@ 11:26 A more genuinely representative Syrian government may end up being anti-Iranian, but it isn’t going to be any less antagonistic to the U.S.

syria wasn’t antagonistic to the US under assad. nor we to them. we sent prisoners to syria to be tortured. mrs clinton not long ago defended assad as a “reformer”. in 2010, we sent them technology we knew could be used for state oppression.

The fall of Bab Amr,the failure of the Friends of Syria have been signs to the US that it is time to play low key and change the objectives. The US has been increasingly worried not only about al Qaeda but about Egypt who seems to be antagonizing the USA and whose Moslem brotherhood seem to present a looming threat to Israel.
I think the US’s priority is now a secular Syria. They don’t want to take the chance that another direct neighbor of Israel become under the influence of MB or salafists. The US is realizing that Syria’s new Constitution denies religious parties. It is therefore much better guarantee than a “regime change” where religious leaders and movements may take the control (The fall of Iran shah is still in the mind of the US )
Even if Bashar al Assad leaves, the US does not want to see the MB or a religious sunni majority ruling that they suspect will rapidly fall under the control of radical islamists.
The SNC has failed to offer enough guarantees that it will not be taken over by the MB. Therefore it has been reduced to just a small parameter of the equation.
I don’t think Anan’s visit has anything to do with Iran. Syria has become a very weak link and is more of a liability to Iran than a asset.
The mission of Kofi Anan is to make sure that the reforms and especially the new constitution is applied after weapons are silenced, and that the fate of Bashar Al Assad be decided through early elections.
I think the message is clear : The regime must remain secular at all cost even if it means keeping the old guard with the new constitution that prevents a religious party taking over, thus guaranteeing the protection of Israel and balancing the radicalisation of the other Arab countries.

-I totally agree with you regarding the sanctions and how they affected the average Syrian in everything, we wrote about this disaster called sanction from day one saying that it will make the average Syrian life miserable, yet the Syria ‘lovers’ insist that it’s a ‘great’ step.

-The title of this post is horrible to say the least (yes I’m writing it for the third time)

-Regarding your note about Kofi mission in Damascus, is that your feeling or did you read about that somewhere? if so could you please share it with us.

Irritated,
Even Lebanese Christians in Paris with all their hatred of the Syrians and their wars say: this is something between Bashar al Asad and the Gulf, we have suffered enough of their craziness, no one should interfere.

You said that the deputy resigned because he has stolen. Any proof for that? Just a question, as i know syrian bureaucracy and civil servants, i think to find one who is not corrupt is like finding the needle in the haystack.

Bronco,
Did I tel you how much I respect and like reading your logical and calm tone comments. Thank you for keeping the comment section a nice place to visit.

Mina, Bronco, Ghufran,
Talking about the international relation, check this news out, I’m surprised that after a year of trouble, business between the Syrian and the French security forces are actually still on.
What the article didn’t mention (maybe on purpose) is that the mission was only be possible because of the RUSSIANS who were included in the plan and got the green lights from the Syrians to let the journalists to go out safely, it’s surreal, isn’t it?

We got rid of our president, yesterday was the military ritual marking the end of the presidency. The majority of germans think that he did not deserve getting this ceremony after 20 months in office, he will also get the full pension until he dies. In the ceremony he choosed 4 songs to be played, and one he choosed was Over the Rainbow. The site of the ceremony is the garden of Schloss Bellevue the residency of german presidents.

reports suggest that Annan will offer Assad one last chance to quit in honor, i would say he can have a smiliar ceremony lets say in front of Azem Palace ( he can choose either in Damascus or Hama) and he could also choose his music, wonder what that would be ( i hope not his i pod selections)

I’m not sure about Mina, but I do want to indicate something about fake danny, just yesterday he was almost crying telling the viewer on CNN that his new BF, AC, didn;t pay him anything and that his family are so very extremely poor, they are living on the expense of his uncle.
IF (big if) that is true, the british passport doesn’t help to buy you air tickets to travel allover Europe and the States, so I think his uncle Hamad and uncle Abdullah and Cooper paid him everything.
‘Honi soit qui mal y pense.” Sure!!!

It’s not my business and I hope that you think of it as an advice, I think that you may need to start the ban again, It’s disgusting reading all these hatred and stupid comments coming from one person.

It’s already enough that the title is provocative and ugly to let someone to go attacking our beliefs.

If you don’t want to ban or delete those ugly comments, you could put that person on moderation, until he learns how and what to write.

Thank you.

[We can put it to a vote: should there be a ban/moderation on Brian? I want more self-moderation, but if there is consensus, Brian can be asked to wait for the moderator to approve his posts. In the meantime, perhaps Brian would not mind some advice how preserve his freedom to communicate here]

‘reports suggest that Annan will offer Assad one last chance to quit in honor,’

absurd.Assad has no reason to quit as most syrians support him… its also not up to foreigners to tell the syrians they must get rid of their head of state./.and as for thos using violence and terrorism…all they do is confirm Assad is popular

Moderator,
I’m confident with whatever you think fit the situation, you proved to be an excellent moderator and you are right in trying to give people chance to adapt to SC rules.
I’m with what the rest of our SC community decide.
Thank you.

so im to be censored? its ok to wage war on Assad…call him all kind of vile names, establish a beachhead here to attack the syrian govt and lie about whats taking place…is that what this forum is about?

[Brian, your posts are posing a problem for me: I do not want to ban or censor. I have sent you two emails explaining the type of civil exchanges that are encouraged. Please stop the veiled and direct personal attacks or all your posts will be moderated.

Thank you for adapting your language to this forum.]

#126

“the majority of christians in Lebanon are against the syrian regime, and these days they align with Hariri people,”

that claim bizarre and is a fragrant lie…the fac that people need to lie to buttress their case is what make it untenable.

lies and violence do not do much to show the insurgents have a case for Assad being replaced by anyone they may like ..

Thus far Assad has proven an astute and able and independent head of state…this is why he is under attack

i can’t imagine the filthy rich saudis would charge desperate rebels for weapons. are the iraqis acting as middlemen extracting an extra profit from syrians for a product they’re they were already contracted by the saudis to pass along?

‘from above: Guns are being smuggled across the Iraqi-Syrian border to arm Syrian rebels. To find out how and why the Iraqi smugglers are doing it,

this suggests saudi royals are arming the syrian rebels.’
=============
of course..thoes freedom and democracy loving saudis join forces with US and israel regimes to bring freedom and democracy to the syrians who are mired in the most brutal civilian shooting dictatorship since…well Libya!

and:And do you think the regime should pardon all those who took part in armed actions against the Government ?’

NO!
its not against the govt(not ‘regime’) but the terrorists have murdered civilians and and soldiers..not by accident, but designed to cause govt collapse..Libyas govt forgave the very same sort in the 1990s..and these more recently again attacked libyas people and soldiers./.and what do we see in libya today? Murderous militia mayhem…

democracy is an illusion..whereby we vote for one of two candidates..who says they will represent us….but once in office the ignore us and pay attention to those who fund them….The hypocrisy of US(or UK or french etc) politicians lecturing anyone about ‘democracy’ is obvious.

please explain how this is objectionable? and WHO is ME? Do you object to my reference to ‘lies’..do you find lying acceptable? You may not beware, but its lies that have driven the wars on Libya and now syria

154. BRIAN said:

[Brian, your posts are posing a problem for me: I do not want to ban or censor. I have sent you two emails explaining the type of civil exchanges that are encouraged. Please stop the veiled and direct personal attacks or all your posts will be moderated.

Thank you for adapting your language to this forum.]

#126

“the majority of christians in Lebanon are against the syrian regime, and these days they align with Hariri people,”

that claim bizarre and is a fragrant lie…the fac that people need to lie to buttress their case is what make it untenable.

lies and violence do not do much to show the insurgents have a case for Assad being replaced by anyone they may like ..

Thus far Assad has proven an astute and able and independent head of state…this is why he is under attack

OKLAHOMA CITY, March 7, 2012 — The Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OK) today called on a church in that state to drop its anti-Islam agenda, citing the Islamophobic views of a church speaker who claims that President Barack Obama is an undercover Saudi Arabian “Muslim plant” in the White House.

The keynote speaker of tonight’s event at Fairview Baptist Church in Edmond, Okla., is Avi Lipkin, an infamous Islamophobe who alleges among other things that Muslims worship the devil and that all Muslims want to kill Christians and Jews.

Alan
if you want to focus on moral rednecks go on, i am sure one can find easily an “crazy” salafi sheikh issuing an fatwa on x mas and spongebob. Its always better to ignore those people, and not to give them any audience.

What is going on in Syria right now is a sectarian civil war. Let’s be honest with ourselves. It is an Alawi junta, supported by other minorities, who is trying to preserve it’s power over the Sunni majority. Here, I said it. The skies didn’t fall. Even Camile/Alex mentioned in one of his posts that the minority rule in Syria has to go (in 5 years, according to him). Whom did he mean when he said “minority rule”? Martians?

So the censorship by our dear moderator is designed to hide the (painful to some) truth. Not to regulate the discussion here on SC.
I reject this renewed attitude of Syria Tishreen Comment.

Brian
What I said is not a lie
This is what Gemayel said in the interview
Interviewed on Al-Jazira TV channel, Gemayel said that Kataeb party was fully siding with the “Syrian revolution,” for freedom and democracy were for long the party’s slogan.

“We have paid the price of Syrian practices; it is known that Syria was behind the assassinations of Kataeb commanders, i.e. President Bashir Gemayel (…) and his daughter Maya, as well as Minister Pierre Gemayel,” he reckoned.”
Also do you watch all the meeting in Lebanon? do you hear what Samir Ja3ja3 is saying.do you watch MTV ? do you watch LBC?

Brian
when you use the term lie, you are ignoring facts.denying the truth.

Russia said Friday it opposed an “unbalanced” UN draft resolution on the Syria crisis because it did not contain a call for a simultaneous halt in violence by the government and rebels.
“We cannot agree with the draft resolution in the form it is being presented in today. The text of the resolution under discussion is unbalanced,” Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying.
“Its main problem is the absence of a simultaneous call on all sides to take practical steps in the context of ceasing fire,” Gatilov was quoted as saying.
Gatilov said Russia was receiving reports that the UN Security Council intended to put the US-backed resolution up for a vote at a meeting on Monday.

Russia, jointly with China, has vetoed two previous UN Security Council drafts on the nearly year-long Syrian crisis, and Gatilov warned world powers against rushing ahead with a new vote.
“It is unacceptable to tie the adoption of any text with a deadline. The time factor is not the most important thing,” Gatilov said.
“The most important thing is to find a text that is realistic, without ambiguity, and aimed at a stable settlement,” he said.
A resolution of the new draft obtained by AFP “demands” that the Syrian government “immediately” cease all violence and “calls” on opposition groups to “refrain from all violence” once these conditions are met.

The use of the word “calls” is pointedly weaker than the “demands” made to the Syrian government.
Gatilov’s comments underline Russia’s long-held view that the West was taking a biased approach to the crisis with the aim of ousting President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia has also accused the West of mulling its own military campaign against Assad after using NATO-led forces to eliminate the Libyan regime, another of Moscow’s former regional allies.
Moscow’s representative to the United Nations on Wednesday accused Libya of helping to train Syrian rebels.
Gatilov said Russia was still willing to work with the West on finding an acceptable compromise.
“The goal is the same — to find a text that contains equal demands on both sides,” Gatilov said.
But he added in a separate statement posted on Twitter that Russia would oppose resolutions “containing any pretext for military action against this country.”http://uk.news.yahoo.com/russia-opposes-unbalanced-un-draft-syria-111934800.html

I do not understand why ineffective and sometimes criminal people are being assigned to resolve the Syrian crisis. kofi Annan was unable to do anything about the genocide in Rawanda while he was at the helm. The Sudanese General Dabi is accused with war crimes….

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Syria’s main opposition group rejected calls Friday by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad’s government, saying they were pointless and unrealistic as the regime massacres its own people.
As the prospects for diplomacy faltered, Turkey’s state-run television TRT said two Syrian generals and a colonel defected to Turkey on Thursday.
If confirmed, the military defections would be significant as most army defectors so far have been low-level conscripts. On Thursday, Syria’s deputy oil minister announced his defection, making him the highest-ranking civilian official to join the opposition.
In a telephone interview from Paris, Burhan Ghalioun, who heads the opposition Syrian National Council, told The Associated Press that Annan already has disappointed the Syrian people.
… .
“I hope that no one is thinking very seriously of using force in this situation,” Annan said. “I believe any further militarization would make the situation worse.”
Annan also said he would be making “realistic” proposals to resolve the conflict. He did not elaborate.
But Ghalioun blasted such statements as unrealistic.
“These kind of comments are disappointing and do not give a lot of hope for people in Syria being massacred every day,” Ghalioun said. “It feels like we are watching the same movie being repeated over and over again.”
“My fear is that, like other international envoys before him, the aim is to waste a month or two of pointless mediation efforts,” he added.
Syrian activists also rejected Annan’s call for dialogue.
… .

majed:
‘Gemayel said that Kataeb party was fully siding with the “Syrian revolution,” for freedom and democracy were for long the party’s slogan.’

the lie is with the party..like the libyan NTC..its role is to gain power..using F and D as a smokescreen…’Freedom’ is a bogus word..Freedom means to do what you like.No state can tolerate that..but its a word the US regime likes to use… because its so vague and promising. Democracy = rule by the people….again it doesnt exist…the US UK France etc are rulde by political parties…which never ask the people..should we do this or that.
Political parties proceed with promises and then when in power find reasons to betray them.\

‘Brian
when you use the term lie, you are ignoring facts.denying the truth.’

LOL thats amusing…the facts are these:

‘What we are seeing in Syria is a deliberate and calculated campaign to bring down the Assad government so as to replace it with a regime “more compatible” with US interests in the region.

The blueprint for this project is essentially a report produced by the neo-conservative Brookings Institute for regime change in Iran in 2009. The report – “Which Path to Persia?” [3] – continues to be the generic strategic approach for US-led regime change in the regionhttp://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA05Ak03.html

‘kofi Annan was unable to do anything about the genocide in Rawanda while he was at the helm’

lies become truth truth lies: so:
the ‘genocide’ in rwanda…another eg of how an event is distorted and turned upside down by the media…for those who want to learn a different take on the events in Rwanda

1. Why is there repeated assertions by many refusing an armed intervention like Turkey or France? Is it a way to reassure Russia? or is it as I believe a cover to start arming the rebellion? Some think it is an excellent idea to arm the rebellion; others are less sure.
My conclusion on this first question is that the consensus is to arm the rebellion enough to keep it going without hopefully causing a major civil war. Contain it in Syria is the word,

2. Some pro regime figures are now almost begging for dialogue and are painting the regime as a victim of a hostile region that requires rebuilding trust so that the regime can sit and talk. My question is whether the hard core elements of the regime are willing or even capable of stoping the violence?

3. It is clear that Syria has become a burden on the Russian or Chinese diplomacy. How much more political capital are they willing to spend on this regime? Now Putin is in place, he is going to have to show international responsibility.

4. Is it possible as the Russians and Iranians are demanding that the regime is preserved without Assad-Makhlouf clan rule? Are there enough cool heads, leaders of stature, influence wielding centers that can preserve some parts of the regime to guarantee these countries’ interests.

5. After the debacle of BA with the regime taking more than four weeks to “subdue” a section of town; “destroying a village to save it” a la Vietnam stupidity; how much more can the loyal sections of the regime forces do to crush the rebellion?

6. As the talk moves to have the UN help from between 1.5 to 3 million people affected in Syria, how will it possible for the regime to keep a lid on the facts on the ground?

Brian
Now that you failed to defend your statement,about Gemeyel,you turn to attack freedom.
Freedom is ,you are free as long as you do not step on some one else freedom.
You call democrcy as an hollow word, you call freedom is a bogus word, you say no state can tolerate that.

Brian I advise you to read more,and understand what is right and recognize what is wrong.educate yourself before commenting, and avoid rude words,never such words convince anyone.

The no talk opposition yet there will be lots of crocodile tears over the videos as another 5000 Syrians are killed in civil war.

“The leader of Syria’s main opposition group rejected calls Friday by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for dialogue with President Bashar Assad’s government, saying they were pointless and unrealistic as the regime massacres its own people.”

…

“Syrian activists also rejected Annan’s call for dialogue.

“It seems he lives on Mars,” said Mohammad Saeed, an activist in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

“Between us and Bashar Assad are the bodies of 5,000 martyrs. We can’t hear each other even if we wanted to,” he said. “What dialogue are they talking about?”

Syria’s opposition is fragmented and suffers from infighting, but most factions reject talks with the government while the military crackdown continues.”

i think Annan is the best excuse the UN has. Ban is not amused since he is known to be quite jealous that Annan can deliver better speeches and is seen worldwide as a charismatic person.

I met once the General Dallaire the canadian officer who was in charge of the Rwanda peace mission. He is a broken man, you still feel that he feels totally guilty. He has tried to kill himself afterwards.

I think most nations in the security council like the idea of an paralyzed UN, the least those big players want is an effective, fast acting UN. I assume Annan will deliver some sort of message to the regime, may be as some say the last gentlemen agreement for Assad. Surely Assad will feel important, may be thats what the UN is hoping, some concessions.

Hello Sherry Ricchiardi
You may like to praise ‘journalist’ marie Colvin, but as you admit in your article:
‘Ryan calls Colvin a crusader and a feisty negotiator, which helps her get her way in the field and in the newsroom. He offered high praise for his reporter. “It takes a lot of guts to walk into Kosovo with a KLA unit when you know the Serbs will be trying to wipe them out,” Ryan says. ‘
What was she doing with a band of terrorists?
Are you aware the KLA is and was then a terrorist organisaton, listed as suc in the US state dept terrorist list? By ‘serbs’ you mean the serbian army:Its the tasks of armies to defend their countries from insurgencys and enemies foreign and domestic. But what was Colvin doing with a band of cutthroats, now listed as engaged in human trafficking by the EU?http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=746
So lets take a look at the KLA:

The KLA, formed in 1991, began attacking police stations and Yugoslav government offices in February 1996, which resulted in an increase in the number of security forces, and escalation into a conflict, although it was initially viewed as an insurgency. The KLA was regarded by the US as a terrorist group until 1998 when it was de-listed for classified reasons,[57][58] and then the UK and the US lobbied France to do the same.[59] The U.S. and NATO then cultivated diplomatic relationships with the KLA leadershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_War
And:http://mobile.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/110322/kosovo-human-trafficking?page=0,1
As we see the KLA goes from terrorist to US ally and have ended up as organ traffickers…yet it seems Colvin was a sympathiser. The serbs were right to see them as terrorists and seditionists, and Colvin is no journalist.
What if she had been with a band of alqaeda ‘when you know the US will be trying to wipe them out!’

You’ve shown us that Colvin was less a jounalist than a media operative for the KLA and US alliance durig their war on the state of Yugoslavia.

DER SPIEGEL just published that 2 high generals and 1 colonel have deserted and left Syria for Turkey. German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle made a statement in which he said he sees clear signs of the decay of the regime.

When half the regime will have defected, a new regime will be ready that will encompass half the old one. Just like in Libya? Or will they keep calling each other mukhabarat for another ten years?
Why then the so-called rebels should not simply accept to talk with whatever exists of the regime?
By the way, I remember reading that the Chinese envoy has spoken with both officials and opposition figures. It was not reported in the mainstream news, or was it?

Second;
As you know there is much difference between a resignation of an official, or a defection of an official. First one if happened will be seen as an act of self respect which could heart the government line and the president, the second one is a job of someone who can be described as TRAITOR which in realty could help the government and enforce the president position , any defection will be seen as staged action by foreign power to undermine the government, the defected person become useless the moment he announces his defection.

Just called Air France. It has suspended all service to Syria as of Mar 5, and other nation’s govt officials pulling out of Syria in last week including Chinese. Anyone know what is going on there?
If the ‘Arab Thing’ is a distraction from the global financial implosion as some claim, is NATO rushing action on Syria to beat the clock on a Mar 23 alleged date of Greek default? Look at the number of top dogs defecting from Power, and it keeps expanding daily. Word is that even Kissinger and Geithner taken in for questioning. (hard to believe, I agree.)http://americankabuki.blogspot.com/p/131-resignations-from-world-banks.html

Iraqi teenagers stoned to death for “emo” haircuts
Published Friday, March 9, 2012

At least 90 Iraqi teenagers with “emo” appearances have been stoned to death by religious extremists in Baghdad in the past month after an inflammatory interior ministry statement dubbed it “devil worshiping”, activists said.

(…)

Al-Bayaty said the killings appear to have been carried out by extremist Shia militias in mostly poor Shia neighborhoods and said she suspected “there’s complicity of the Ministry of Interior in the killings.”

(…)

News of the gruesome deaths drew a stern reaction from Iraq’s prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who criticized the extremist group that carried out the stoning of the young men as “an act of terrorism.”

James Clapper, the United States Director of National Intelligence, warned last month of al Qaeda taking advantage of the growing conflict in Syria. The Syrian regime and its supporters frequently claim that the opposition is dominated by al Qaeda-linked extremists. Opposition supporters often counter that the uprising is completely secular. But months of reporting on the ground in Syria revealed that the truth is more complex.

Syria’s uprising is not a secular one. Most participants are devout Muslims inspired by Islam. By virtue of Syria’s demography most of the opposition is Sunni Muslim and often come from conservative areas. The death of the Arab left means religion has assumed a greater role in daily life throughout the Middle East. A minority is secular and another minority is comprised of ideological Islamists. The majority is made of religious-minded people with little ideology, like most Syrians. They are not fighting to defend secularism (nor is the regime) but they are also not fighting to establish a theocracy. But as the conflict grinds on, Islam is playing an increasing role in the uprising.

There is a new trick in Syria.
Whenever somebody quits a “financial establishment” with a sum of money and waits for a taxi outside, a private car stops .
The handsome passengers of the car propose him a lift to his destination.
Upon arrival , the door is locked but the driver manages to open it.
In the process , the driver pickpockets the wallet with the money.

The Syrian police : If you notice the pickpocketing , don’t protest or resist , otherwise they will kill you.

I just told the story to a Syrian friend living in Nigeria :
” Well , looks like Syria left the Swiss Safety standards and moves fast towards the Nigerian one’s. ”

His advice to people:

Whenever you board an unknown car , take note of the car plate , take a picture of the driver , etc and send the SMS to family , etc and tell the driver that you know some big shoots ( your choice ) is waiting for you , etc

#202 Nir Rosen is a Mossad agent. He was a Staff Sargeant for the Israel Defence Forces as recently as 2004 whether he travels on a US passport or not. His claim to be a refusenik rings pretty hollow when the oath he signed include: “We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel’s defense.” If he was sincere he’d stay home and change his own system from the inside as no others can do it.

What is really outrageous is that the Syrians give this Israel spy free reign to do surveillance all over Syria and didnt let Anthony Shadid- a Lebanese American of Arab descent- in. Wonder if Shadid documented the NATO presence inside the FSA and was offed? Where are his notes? Whole thing is very weird.

Everyone seems to forget there were huge established cracks and battle lines drawn up in Iraq long before Saddam was pushed off his throne. The violent internal wars against the Shia and Kurds in Iraq had created a very different landscape to Syria when the time came to fight for control.

Foreign intervention in Iraq was never going to paper over those cracks, and it proved unable to stop them exploding when many American actions after Saddam, driven by certain factions in the US establishment, proved to be so stupid and conterproductive.

People also forget, or maybe never paid attention to,the massive anger and dissension high in the US military and State Department ranks at that time over decisions on handling Iraq made by Donald Rumsfeld and co. Played out in top level resignations and tell-all books for many years afterwards.

So many of the assertions we keeping hearing about Iraq and America and America and Syria are over-simplified and distorted by short-term memory.

Washington has allegedly opened discussions with allies on possible military intervention in Syria, as foreign ministers from the UN Security Council nations to meet later on Monday to discuss the Syrian conflict.
According to US Washington Post, some US unnamed officials suggest among the possibilities are directly arming opposition forces, sending troops to guard a humanitarian corridor or “safe zone” for the rebels, or an air assault on Syrian air defenses.
However, the US officially insisted they currently rule out an option of any military involvement in Syria’s internal conflict.
The allies nevertheless remain deeply divided over the scope of any intervention, how and when it would happen, and who would participate, reports the newspaper. …………

[I appreciate challenges to comments that include calls for death, assassination or ‘karmic’ retribution upon the President of Syria or named military associates at the top of the command structure of security. Syria is in civil conflict and such calls can be extremely provocative or tend to derail discussion. Discussions of the end of the Assad government are proper, pointed calls for death by flamethrower or other means are less so.

Thumbs up and thumbs down are entirely out of the control of Joshua or any moderator or the programmer who codes the WordPress installation. There is no means to manipulate scores for a WordPress admin.

Any internet visitor may vote, not only commentators. Votes are apparently filtered against double-scores by IP address. No votes can be removed from the system. 873 is thus mistaken to claim altering vote scores down. The only time this can appear to happen is when a comment is a duplicate.

Mossad charges against Nir Rosen (by Ann, 873) can use some support. Another commentator has asked that his Zionist-Iranian-American remarks against Nir Rosen be removed today, for fear of bringing harm upon Nir’s personal safety. If there is evidence that Rosen serves a foreign power or is a member of military or secret services of the state of Israel, commentators should put it forward immediately for critical attention.

Considering the urgency of the other commentator’s request that I removed his entry on Rosen, I suggest, 873, you too may request deletion.

Thank you, 873, for following our rules — in mind of dangerous violence and unwarranted provocations. Feel free to directly challenge or request deletion of any comment by email to SCModeration@mail.com. ]

Dont understand why Syria wouldnt give Anthony Shadid a visa, and he died as a consequence of trying to enter another way. Yet they’d allow Nir Rosen, an IDF Staff Sargeant specializing in military intelligence to run free all over Syria for months. Are they crazy? Why would they do this?

Re: #205
Very interesting on the comment tallies. Earlier when posting here my comment showed 14 supportive and like 5 against. Now its listed as 4 for and 2 against. Is the moderator/scorekeeper affiliated with the Washington Post or Jazeera???
All SC Mar 11 comments gone from everyone?

dear the writer
i don’t know where you take information from .
and i think you don’t follow the correct news , but just what you want to hear or read .
as i know mustafa tlass denied all these rumors to new tv ( Lebanese tv )
and i am from Syria can guarantee to you that no one is thinking about defection . it is just in your imagination
and the massacre that happened in karm alzitoon it was made by the terrorists that Europe and america and some Arab countries are support